The emergence of the chambers of commerce and industry was at the end of the 16th century. The first institute to take the title of the “chamber of commerce' was the Chamber of Commerce of Marseille, which was founded in 1600. The first Chamber of Commerce in North America was established in New York in 1768. The first Chamber of Commerce in Canada was opened in Halifax in 1804.

The consultancy functions for state authorities and businesses are currently the common issue in the Western chambers of commerce and industry.

Another common feature of the chambers of commerce and industry from all round the world is that they have the structure of a central parent organization. For instance, we have Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges in Turkey.

The idea of the “chamber” in Ottoman community came to the fore with westernization movements. The Reform Edict of 1856, which included a number of reforms and innovations, revealed that traders needed to get organized by establishing chambers. In accordance with the Reform Edict of 1856, Regulations were published and chambers started to be established.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Van was founded in 1962 in order to meet the common needs of its members, facilitate their business activities, ensure the development of the professions in accordance with the general interest, protect professional discipline, ethics and cooperation to enable honesty and trust prevail in the interactions among and between the members and the community, and fulfil the services designated in the Law and the tasks assigned to the chambers through legislation.